Save Face and Save Some Money

If you're serious about your skincare and your goal is to look as healthy, vibrant, and young as long as possible, lycopene skincare products may be the perfect choice for you. Not only will you be taking the best possible care of your skin -- you may be delaying your need for plastic surgery, or better yet, avoiding at all together! So if you're concerned about your skin and the look of the fine lines and wrinkles that you've developed over the past few years, you might find it interesting to learn that many plastic surgeons recommend alternative care before going under the knife.

Not only can you avoid the need for plastic surgery, but you can also save a LOT of money. Because the ingredients in lycopene skincare products are 100% organic, there is no money required for chemical processing, as there is with synthetic skincare. For this reason, prices of lycopene skincare products are dramatically lower than most other high-end products. Not only that, lycopene skincare products can be purchased online. This online e-commerce approach saves consumers quite a bit of money in the long run as well.

Lycopene is a very powerful antioxidant that is derived from tomatoes. As we've discussed before, lycopene is very successful in the prevention and treatment of cancer (particularly prostate cancer). However, when infused into skincare cream, lycopene provides a protection against the elements that is unparalleled. Science has indicated that lycopene is a natural UV blocker and in combination with the antioxidant properties therein, lycopene has become one of the world's premier ingredients in high-quality skincare.

While we feel totally confident telling you that lycopene skin care is the next big thing in cosmeceuticals, and that you will be so impressed by the results that you’re sure to be hooked for life, you don’t have to take our word for it. Instead, why not try purchasing lycopene skin care based wholly on the claims made here? Try it for a mere three weeks and judge for yourself. At the end of three weeks, you will notice visible improvement in the texture and clarity of your skin. You’ll notice decreased pore size and a reduction in fine lines and wrinkles. Over the long term, these subtle changes will metamorphosize into miraculous results!

Lycopene Skin Care - The Triple Threat

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Lycopene Skincare - The Economic Choice

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Tomato on Your Face - Really?

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Tomato, Tomato

We spend a lot of time talking about how lycopene skincare products can be beneficial in the prevention of age spots, wrinkles, and the treatment of existing problems associated with aging. However, today we're going to concentrate on lycopene as a whole.

As you know, lycopene is derived from tomatoes. The orange tomato has 200 times more lycopene than does its counterpart. Medical research indicates that lycopene is clinically proven to ward off cancer, heart disease, and even macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is a degenerative disease of the retina in the eye. As far as skincare goes, the lycopene found in tomatoes can reduce sun damaged by as much as 35%. In fact, research indicates that just 1 cup of tomatoes each and every day will protect you from sun damage. This medical research also shows that the phytonutrients in tomatoes can neutralize free radicals that are created by UVA and UVB rays. If you like the idea of benefiting from tomatoes, cooking your tomatoes will liberate three times more lycopene from the plants tough and durable cell membrane – so cook away!

These medical reports also prove that adequate consumption of tomato can improve the skin and purify the blood. They also say that the lycopene in tomatoes can help remove acne and pimples. Aside from the topical benefits, tomatoes are also known to be rich in potassium. Potassium is one of the main components associated with the electrical activity in the body; mainly your heartbeat. Your heart’s activity is fueled by the electrolyte potassium, as well as magnesium.

Since we've established how good a tomato can be for you internally, it stands to reason that skincare cream infused with concentrated lycopene would be highly beneficial as topical application. Not only will topical lycopene reduce the appearance of age spots, wrinkles, and other side effects associated with age, they can also help to delay the need for plastic surgery or turn back the clock in such a dramatic manner that plastic surgery is prevented all together.

If you truly care about your skin and your appearance, consider implementing a lycopene skincare routine into your regimen. You’ll be so impressed by the dramatic results that you’re to be hooked for life.

Save Money with Lycopene Skincare

If you're one of many who search for new and exciting ways to improve the quality of your skin, today you should be looking into lycopene skincare products. The skincare products were developed by world-renowned plastic surgeons and are continually endorsed by top institutions and skin care professionals all over the world. Lycopene skincare products are products that have been infused with lycopene that is derived from tomatoes. As we've already determined, lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and cancer fighter. But not only that, it can improve quality, clarity, and texture of your skin within a relatively short period of time.

If you've never looked into the utilization of lycopene skincare products, do yourself a favor and spend some time researching lycopene infused skincare claims from online resources as well as some of the more popular fashion magazines that are on the shelves today. You will find that the results women and men alike are getting from the use of lycopene skincare creams is astounding. The cream does not promise to turn back the hands of time ten years in one session, but it does promise that you will see dramatic improvements in texture, clarity, and texture within a few short weeks. Aside from that fact is the dramatic statements that lycopene infused skincare cream can help to delay the need or eliminate the need for plastic surgery or other surgical intervention altogether.
As of now, you're probably spending hundreds each month on various skincare treatments and creams. We all want to look younger. We all want to look healthier, and we all want to eliminate the lines and wrinkles that have developed over years of sun and worry. The good news is, you can accomplish these goals through the use of one skincare product and avoid spending the hundreds or thousands that you're already spending on skincare products that just don't work.
But you don't have to take our word for it; we challenge you to try lycopene infused skincare products for a mere three weeks. We can all but guarantee that within that three-week period of time. You will notice so many improvements in the quality of your skin that you will be hooked for life. Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on treatments that are only going to lead you to plastic surgery down the road anyway, when you can avoid plastic surgery through the use of one, simple, skincare infusion?

The Health Benefits of Lycopene

Lycopene is the pigment responsible for the characteristic red color of ripe tomatoes, pink grapefruit, guava, and watermelon. There is increasing clinical evidence supporting the role of lycopene—an important carotenoid—as an antioxidant. Carotenoids are a class of hydrocarbons (carotenes) and their oxygenated derivatives (xanthophylls). They are composed of eight isoprenoid units arranged in such a manner that these units reverse at the center of the molecule with the two central methyl groups being in the 1,6-position relationship and the remaining non-terminal methyl groups in the 1,5-position. Approximately 600 carotenoids have been isolated from natural sources and are all derived from the acyclic C40H56 structure. In most cases, each carotenoid occurs solely in one configuration in Nature. The most notable of the carotenoids are lycopene and beta-carotene.

An interesting feature of carotenoid stereochemistry is that carotenes exist in two isomeric forms, cis and trans. Both forms exist in nature and exhibit different biological properties. Based on the number of double bonds in the molecule, a great number of cis/trans isomers exist for each carotenoid: 1,056 for lycopene and 272 for beta-carotene. Normally, carotenoids occur naturally as the all trans isomer, but exposure to heat and ultraviolet (UV) light can increase the percentage of the cis isomer.

Tomatoes and tomato-based products are the major source of lycopene and other carotenoids in the human diet. Fresh tomatoes, soup, and most processed tomato-based products have predominantly the trans-lycopene isomer and a small amount of the cis-lycopene. In biological tissues, about 60-65 percent of lycopene is in the cis isomeric form. A study of the bioavailability of the two different isomeric forms of lycopene was conducted by feeding test subjects specially bred tomatoes that were either poly-cis or all all-trans. Lycopene from the poly-cis tomato was better absorbed than the all-trans tomato. Conversion of the trans to the cis isomer occurred after absorption. What is fed is what is absorbed, demonstrating that the conversion does not take place at the gut level. It is not clear if the conversion takes place in the tissues or in the liver. It is likely not due to an enzyme but a simple isomerization of the lycopene in the body. This seems to be supported by the fact that lycopene is stable in the tomato and once removed becomes susceptible to reactions. Based on studies, it appears that co-consumption of fat is essential for the absorption of carotenoids. The reason and significance for the isomeric trans-cis change in form is unknown.

Effect at the tissue level

Joseph Levy, Ph.D., at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, has shown that lycopene inhibits estradiol stimulation of hormone-dependent malignant cells. Estrogen, androgen, and IGF-1 regulate cell division. Antiestrogens and lycopene inhibit a key protein in cell cycle regulation known as Cyclin D that is over-expressed in cancer cells. Some carotenoids inhibit estradiol-induced estrogenic receptor activity in cancer cells. This has implications for women with breast and endometrial tumors and men with prostate cancer.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) affects bone cells by decreasing osteoblast (bone forming) function and increases osteoclast (bone resorbing) activity. Leticia Rao, Ph.D., at St. Michael’s Hospital at the University of Toronto hypothesizes that lycopene inhibits ROS. Lycopene treated osteoclasts do not fuse to grow larger when treated with lycopene, while osteoblastic proliferation is stimulated by lycopene. The role of lycopene in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis is currently under investigation.

High levels of ROS are found in 25-40 percent of infertile men and may be of clinical significance in idiopathic oligoasthenospermia (severely depressed sperm count). Lycopene is being studied to see if it can reduce oxidative stress and improve sperm count.

Photooxidative stress from UV light affects the eyes and the skin. It results in the formation of ROS and peroxyl radicals that damage proteins, lipids, and DNA and may be responsible for skin aging, photosensitivity disorders, and skin cancer. Chiang et al at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan showed that platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) was inhibited by lycopene (Life Sci. 2007;81:1509-1517). Trapping of PDGF-BB by lycopene compromised melanoma-induced fibroblast migration and attenuated signaling transduction in fibroblasts simulated by melanoma-derived conditioned medium, suggesting that lycopene may interfere with tumor-stroma interactions. Darvin et al of the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany found that higher levels of lycopene in the skin effectively lead to lower levels of skin roughness (Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2008;69:943-947). Likewise, Heinrich’s group at the Institute of Experimental Dermatology in Witten, Germany found the skin of patients treated with lycopene showed improvement in roughness and scaling as determined by Visioscan.

Topical vs. Dietary Lycopene for Skin

Recent studies have suggested that topically applied lycopene may be more effective in protecting the skin than dietary lycopene. Dietary lycopene, once absorbed, distributes throughout the body and deposits in various tissues. Lycopene applied directly to the skin may achieve higher levels and offer a greater degree of protection from UV-induced oxidative stress. Fazekas et al of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York found that topically applied lycopene prevented the cleavage of caspase-3 and significantly reversed UVB-induced proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and normal PCNA staining (Nutr Cancer. 2003;47:181-187) Furthermore, topically applied lycopene may act as a preventive agent via inhibition of epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity, reducing inflammatory responses, maintaining normal cell proliferation, and possibly preventing DNA damage. Andreassi et al of the Istituto Tecnologica di Scienza Dermatologiche at Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy, similarly found topical lycopene to have suitable characteristics to be used successfully in the prevention of cutaneous damage by free radicals (J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2004;18:52-55).

For lycopene to be used in a cutaneous preparation, certain parameters must be met. Contrary to many blogs on the internet, it is not true that adding powdered lycopene to any face cream is sufficient to create a lycopene cream. As has been elucidated above, once lycopene undergoes reduction by singlet oxygen radicals it becomes inactive. Other factors such as exposure to UV light and reducing agents in the creams themselves degrade and inactivate lycopene. To protect lycopene, it needs to be encapsulated. Two methods are available to do this: a liposome envelope or newer and more efficiently absorbed cerosome envelope. Both of these methods also protect the skin from the orange staining that can sometimes be associated with topically applied lycopene.

Another important consideration in choosing a face cream containing lycopene is whether the lycopene is natural or synthetic. Aust et al of the Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Heinrich-Heine-University in Dusseldorf, Germany, found that natural lycopene exerted a more protective effect than synthetic lycopene (Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2005;75:54-60). Other studies show that natural lycopene has almost 50 percent greater ability to kill malignant cells in vitro than synthetic lycopene.

Conclusion

Lycopene is one of the most powerful antioxidants found in nature. Creams containing lycopene offer protection from the damaging effects of environmental contaminants and UV radiation responsible for photoaging and skin cancer. It is important that the cream contain a substantial amount of lycopene, that is natural and not synthetic, and that the lycopene is protected by either a liposomal or cerosomal envelope. Research is ongoing and results are encouraging for the health benefits of lycopene creams.

This post was contributed by Gary I Weinberger, MD FACS. Gary was a clinical professor of medicine at the Buffalo School of Medicine and also the New York University School of Medicine. Gary is now a Medical Skincare Specialist and works with Paphos Skincare in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Paphos Skincare has introduced an all natural, organic Lycopene Skincream that is imported from Italy.